There are a variety of different techniques and devices for infusing fluids, such as drugs or nutritional supplements, into a patient. One type of device that is used is an ambulatory drug pump. Such pumps are structured to pump an agent into a patient from a reservoir such as a cassette that attaches to the pump or an I.V. bag. Such a pump is versatile. They can be used for bed-ridden patients in a hospital or nursing home or they can be used for patients that are mobile and have a need to move freely.
Additionally, these pumps are programmable so that they can deliver different types of agents and administer different types of therapies. For example, the pumps can be programmed to deliver nutritional supplements for a parenteral nutritional therapy, drugs for a chemotherapy therapy, pain-relief medication for a pain-control therapy for patient controlled analgesia program, and antibiotics for treating infections.
These pumps may need to be programmed with a variety of program data before each use. Such program data might include delivery schedules and routines; data about the patient such as age, weight, or special medical conditions; and data about the agent such as dose and type of drug.
A difficulty with these systems is that only one item of program data can be entered into the pump at a time—and then usually through a keyboard on the pump. Some systems allow the program data to be entered into the pump via a computer. But even these systems require the caregiver to load only one data item at a time into the pump. Programming the pump in this manner can require both a significant amount of time and caregiver training. Furthermore, many therapies and drugs require different pumps to be repeatedly programmed with the same sets of program data. This process is very time consuming and inefficient. Given the rising cost of health care, efficiency and increased automation are very important.